I provide commentary on political economy, police and prosecutorial abuse, and whatever else might come to mind.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 (ESV)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Why Do Innocent People Get Railroaded in False Child Molestation Cases? (And Other Cases, Too)

Four years ago, a friend who was from England and I were discussing the placement of police surveillance cameras in commercial areas and elsewhere. While I told her I was wary of how the authorities would use those cameras, she replied, "If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about."

Indeed, most Americans still believe that very thing. If they aren't breaking the law and if they are trying to be good, law-abiding citizens, then they won't have any problems. The other night, I spoke at length to a woman in North Carolina whose brother was falsely accused of child molestation, but who won acquittal, but only after an expensive trial and a huge personal cost to himself and his family.

She told me what I have heard many times, and I will put it into the following points:

Her brother believed in the "fairness of the system" and that if he was innocent, the authorities, who were as truth-seeking as he, would never charge him with crimes he did not commit;

Because he trusted "the system," he gladly spoke with police without an attorney present because, as everyone knows, the police only want to get at the truth;

Judges actually care about doing justice;

Good church-going Christians never would knowingly lie or mangle the truth in order to try to convict someone who clearly was innocent;

The police use highly-qualified and honest experts in helping them get at the truth (just like they do on CSI).

However, he soon found out that the people he trusted were not trustworthy. For example, he took a lie detector test administered by an agent of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). The administrator told him he flunked everything, including his own name and age, but would not let him see the results. (Given the recent scandal that has hit the SBI crime lab, I am not surprised that an SBI agent would try to cook the books on a polygraph, just as Georgia authorities are not to be trusted, either.)

What this man discovered -- the hard way -- was that police and prosecutors throughout the United States no longer care about who did what, or even if crimes have been committed. The SBI scandal in North Carolina, along with the FBI crime lab scandal of a decade ago, along with many other "forensic" scandals, demonstrate that in the world of prosecutors and police, at best we are dealing with depraved indifference and at worst outright criminal behavior.

So, why child molestation? First, as I have pointed out many times before, there is money in it from the federal government. Second, prosecutors and police can pose as heroes, for in American society, there is no lower form of life than a child molester, and the court systems are so rigged against anyone being charged with such a crime that it is all-too-easy for cops and prosecutors to play to the crowd.

Third, this is a crime that needs no evidence. All that is needed is an accusation, and the law requires that ANY accusation of this sort be investigated as though the charges were true. Since the vast majority of such cases have no physical evidence, all that is needed is for someone to make an accusation, and we have seen from the Tonya Craft case that no matter how ridiculous the accusations and no matter how preposterous they might be, there always will be people who will stand in line to believe anything.

Fourth, because all that is needed is some bullying behavior by police and prosecutors and dishonest "forensic" interviewing by people like the Suzi Thornes of that business, it is quite easy to bring charges. Furthermore, the simple accusation practically puts someone in prison, and the public generally will believe anything the cops say.

For example, when Tonya Craft was arrested two years ago, WTVC, Channel 9, immediately ran stories that claimed that the children were victims of Ms. Craft, and in this one, it is clear that the reporter believes that Ms. Craft is guilty and makes no bones about demonstrating her prejudices. It is hard for anyone -- and especially someone falsely accused -- to stand up to that kind of an assault.

Fifth, police and prosecutors have a decided advantage because they are not having to spend their own money. On the other side, however, people falsely accused must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend themselves, and if they don't have that money available, they likely are going to prison. Those are the cold and hard facts about "justice" in this country today. Furthermore, police and prosecutors have legal immunity, and they are protected by their friends in the courts and in the government agencies overseeing them.

This means that even when they lie in court and instruct witnesses to lie, that nothing ever happens to them. In Tonya's trial, for example, it was clear that both Joal Henke and Sandra Lamb were lying, and they had absolute proof that Lamb was testifying falsely. However, "judge" Outhouse made sure that jurors would not see the hard proof (her daughter's on-line acting resume) regarding Lamb by forbidding the corroborating material to be entered into evidence.

Keep in mind that Deal, Arnt, Gregor (and "judge" Outhouse, for that matter) felt free to forge a document in the middle of the trial and claim that the defense was lying about its previous existence. That was because they knew that since "judge" Outhouse had their backs and the Georgia authorities would not investigate, they could do whatever they wanted.

All too often, people will plead to something because if they fight the charges at a trial and lose, they are going to prison perhaps for the rest of their lives. The incentive is to plead out, serve some time, and then deal with the aftermath. Furthermore, as we saw in the Tonya Craft trial, police and prosecutors will lie, fabricate material "evidence," and get away with it, especially since judges in trials involving people charged with child molestation are hostile to defendants and are likely to work hand-in-glove with the prosecution, as we saw with "judge" Brian Outhouse in the Craft trial. In other words, the legal system is absolutely stacked against innocent defendants, and especially against innocent defendants charged with child molestation.

Like that man in North Carolina, most Americans have been brought up with the notion that the system is "fair," and that the players really care about right and wrong, guilt and innocence. However, when they get a taste of what it really is like, then they come to realize that everything they have been taught about the courts and about American justice in general is a very big lie.

35 comments:

Bill, I believe the old ways are changing. Too many Americans have become disgusted by actual criminals making sweet plea deals and getting off with light or no sentences and then often innocent people are going to prison because quite simply, they cannot afford a good defense attorney willing to fight for them. Distrust of the police, long thought of as the act of a criminal guilty of the charges, had become the norm. That said, you have awakened a lot of people in LMJC. Historically, we have a 15% or less voting rate down here. Most people are too tired after working all day to stand in the long lines at polling places, or, due to recent closures of such places, have no idea where they are or just don't want to drive so much further to vote. But, from comments I've seen on local boards lately, times are a changing. The probate judge locally told my in laws at church a couple of months ago she was so glad she wasn't up for reelection this time, since the current fever following the Tonya Craft trial, had those going onto the ballot in fear of their jobs for the first time ever. That tidbit of information should make those of us determined to clean house happy, but we are moving ahead as hard as ever, even planning to make up signs urging people to vote no confidence for the two Supreme Court judges on the ballot and basically vote against all incumbents. The ability of the district attorney's office and judges to get away with what they have unchecked for so many years doesn't stop with the legal system. Others have known of these transgressions for years and turned a blind eye, preferring to feather their own nests with those political gains. So, in a way, you have done enough to clean up the mess in one area. Even if we are worried about those who will follow these people.

Fourth, because all that is needed is some bullying behavior by police and prosecutors and dishonest "forensic" interviewing by people like the Suzi Thornes of that business, it is quite easy to bring charges. Furthermore, the simply accusation practically puts someone in prison, and the public generally will believe anything the cops say.

The really sad thing in all of this, is that now those who actually have committed child molestation will be saying, I didn't do it, I was railroaded too!! What a shame!! I know of one here in Ringgold, who is a child molestor and did make a plea agreement, is now out and most of his friends, tell everyone he was railroaded, that it was a church vendetta, etc. This man truly is a child molestor and should have spent the rest of his life in prison.

There are no easy answers to the judicial mess we face today, but changes need to be made.

Second, it is quite telling to me that the LMJC will move Heaven and Earth to prosecute people who are innocent, but are very casual about those child molesters who really are guilty.

In truth, cops and prosecutors LOVE to go after innocent people because that presents a bigger challenge. Remember that prosecutors have a saying: "Any prosecutor can win a conviction against a guilty person; it takes a GREAT prosecutor to get a conviction against someone who is innocent."

That quote (or a similar one) came from the Dallas County DA's office, the same one that now is having to deal with a number of cases in which the office framed innocent people. The Oscar-winning documentary, "The Thin Blue Line," really lays out just how dishonest the Dallas DAs really are.

This is a national disease, and as I see it, most Americans refuse to believe how sick these people really are -- at least until they are the victims.

Bill, it is just simply that most people live their lives with blinders on, until they are directly affected by something. My family wasn't exactly blinded to what goes on, but we truly believed that if you tell the truth, that is simply all that matters. Folks, let me tell you, in the judicial system, the truth just doesn't matter!!! In most cases, it almost always boils down to money in one way or another. Money and people who have money or power in life.

I can tell you that once you personally experience the injustice that is our justice system, it changes your whole perspective on things. One of my favorite TV shows, before this happened, was Law and Order. For a very long time afterwards, I wouldn't even watch it, but when I did start watching again, I wanted the accused to win!!! For me, the bad guys were now the ones who are suppose to serve and protect. I know there are good people in law enforcement, etc. but it is very hard for me to see any of them in that light. To me, they are all evil and unjust!!

The really sad thing in all of this, is that now those who actually have committed child molestation will be saying, I didn't do it, I was railroaded too!!

Yep, exactly, and we have not only criminal scumbag DAs and judges like those of the LMJC to thank for that, but also the Amoricon sheeple masses who have for so long put such completely and obviously unjustified trust in these verminous animals and their despicable system. This system is now so thoroughly broken, so corrupt, and so dishonest that I've come to the conclusion that it is now virtually impossible to say with any degree of accuracy or certainty whether anybody who is currently rotting in prison is actually guilty of the crime for which they're been imprisoned. If you were to visit any maximum security state penitentiary (what a sickening misnomer THAT word is!) at random, in any given state, you would be hard-pressed to identify which of the inmates is a hardened, life-long criminal serving a well-deserved life sentence and which are innocents who have adopted prison culture just to survive in some (probably vain) hope of someday someone discovering the truth of their situation, setting them free, and clearing their names.

My solution? Empty the prisons, tout de suite, except for that percentage of the inmate population whose guilt is evident beyond a reasonable doubt (and God only knows what actual percentage of the existing prison population that would be today). There is simply far too much reasonable doubt and far too much evidence that the majority of those currently serving long sentences either 1) lacked adequate defense counsel at trial, 2) were coerced into plea bargains under conditions that blatantly violated their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, 3) were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of non-violent and/or consensual acts that do not fit the natural law definition of a crime; or 4) all three of the above. Will this mass emptying of the prisons create a violent crime wave? In the short term, probably yes. After all, even innocents will have a difficult time readjusting to "normal" life after years of incarceration and there will certainly be habitual, violent criminals among those released. But, hey, if brainless sheeple hadn't put their blind trust in class of elite criminals, they wouldn't be faced with such a prospect. And maybe, just maybe, the prospect of such a mass release of prison inmates back into society due to a complete system failure will wake up just enough of the sheeple to force a "housecleaning" of the "justice" system and lead to a return to the rule of actual law, a move that would not only reduce the inexcusably large prison population, but reduce the incentive to arrest clearly innocent people in the first place.

Dang, type in Len Gregor on youtube and see what comes up. Its actually mostly his son, Davis, but there appear to have numerous race videos. However, the song selections for the videos have the f-word, p-word, and lots of other foul language. Wonder where he learned that?

This is a doozy of a witch hunt in Texas, 6 defendents, 4 life sentences, 2 convictions thrown out, and the DA is pressing on. I can't believe this case hasn't recieved more publicity, Children actually testified that they flew around the swinger's club on a broom.

Whenever people say that ignorant 'if you've got nothing to hide..." I ask them if they would agree to have cameras installed in the bathroom facing the toilet. After all, what they do there is perfectly natural and nothing wrong with it.

Mr Ward, I watched the youtube video that you posted... I personally think it should be a mandatory day in High School Civics class to watch... You have posted the short version (the professor's only) there is an extended version as well, with a L3 student who also has been an investigator for 28 years, It is well worth watching part 2 or just watching the entire video. After watching this, I am amazed that Tonya had the where-with-all to refuse to speak to Dirty Deal.If everyone never watches another video on youtube, watch this one... It is amazing. I keep getting an internal error when I try to re watch it, but you can go to youtube, and put in "Don't talk to the cops" and it comes up.

I,too, watched the you tube Don't talk to cops videos. Parts 1 and 2. Excellent info. I learned so much useful information. I sincerely hope I never have the occasion to have to use it. Thanks for sharing. Bill, Thank you for your tireless writing. You are a true inspiration to me.

"Police make a mistakes, innocently, inadvertently, unintentionally" If the police are willing to lie: not likely" 20:58.

He’s a very entertaining speaker. That part goes against most of the anti-government hate that's typed here. Guess that makes him part of the huge conspiracy to lock up all the innocent people in the world.

Here’s the other part for those interested in the police officers take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE. “I don’t want to put anybody innocent in jail. But I try not to bring anybody into the interview room that’s innocent” 6:22. Good stuff right there. Police officers live by this contrary to what most of you believe.

Bill I’d like for you to do a story about this federal money and show direct links to how an agency gets the money. Show us how the Chattanooga Police Department receives money for child molestation arrests. Also show us how the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office gets federal money for child molestation convictions.

Callahan, Why don't you do a story on how you don't receive federal dollars. Fact is ever time you collect a pay check it has federal tax payers money in it. Also it has local tax dollars in it. So the way I see it you work for me so how bout acting like it. Maybe you should put yourself in the shoes of some of those folks you drag down to the interrogation room and decide to lie about what they told you in a court of law. A lie is a lie no matter if you have a badge or a suit. So keep up the the good work if it makes you sleep better knowing you had to LIE to get conviction. Far as I'm concerned your no better than the dirt bags your going after. Old saying: Two wrongs don't make a right.

Well, Mr. "Callahan" denies that the feds pay out money to certain organizations regarding accusations of child molestation. Actually, I am working on a piece that deals with that, but not for the regular posts.

When have I said that the DA's office gets CAPTA money? It goes to other organizations that work closely with prosecutors and police.

As for what that cop was saying, there are a few things to keep in mind: First, he very well might have had a good moral compass and would be likely to be able to tell between a situation in which someone was guilty and someone was innocent. That is NOT the case with people like Tim Deal and Steven Keith.

Second, I doubt seriously that this cop would have fabricated a document in the middle of a trial (but I guess "Callahan" believes that is perfectly OK).

Third, he was responding to what the professor already had been saying, and he was in agreement: Don't ever talk to the police.

Now, compare what both men were saying to Suzi Thorne's interview with Tonya Craft's daughter. Thorne is a cop, and she obviously was told beforehand that she had to come up with SOMETHING in her interview with that child.

Chris Arnt got six indictments out of that interview. But, "Callahan" wants us to believe that Suzi Thorne is honest.

As for "anti-government hate," this is not an anarchist site. Look at the daily videos that come out with cops killing and beating people in unprovoked attacks. Read the lies that their reports claim. Just who is engaging in "hate"?

Cops even have a term called "testilying," which means they lie continuously on the stand.

Yes, when government such as the LMJC try to wrongfully imprison people, when police carry out what only can be called summary executions, and when we throw people into prison wily-nily, and when prosecutors and cops lie on a regular basis, we have a problem.

However, according to "Callahan," pointing out that problem is engaging in "hate."

Now, take my missives against Tim Deal. I don't know the guy, but when a person who on his Facebook page claims to be a "pro-life Christian" forges a document in the middle of a trial in order to try to paper over a huge hole in the prosecution's case, I am going to question the man's salvation. I am going to ask if a follower of Jesus Christ would willfully do such a thing and not repent afterward and admit his guilt.

Actually, I am a better friend to Deal than are his friends, Arnt and Gregor and Outhouse. Those guys are getting him to do wrong; I'm telling him to do right. So, who is the better friend?

Wow Callahan, you are a piece of work. That guy outlines how a cop can, without ill motive, put someone in jail. I think if it can happen without ill motive, and you shouldn't talk, then there is a heightened reason not to talk in case the cop is corrupt. And read the press clippings from around the country. When corruption happens, it rarely is a single cop, its a substantial part of the justice system in the area. And it revolves, always, around money. Drugs, prostitutes, moonshine, or some other criminal activity may be taking place, but the underlying reason for all that is money. Because money is power. That money comes from the feds makes no difference. Its money and that is what drives corruption. So, while there are cops with good moral character, this blog is not about them. You start a blog and write about those guys. This blog is about the bad ones, the way they ruin lives, and how we can prevent it.

Since you are a cop, or a cop advocate, then why are you opposed to the lawful behavior on this blog? You swore an oath to uphold the constitution, correct? Well, if you read that constitution, it contains a 4th, 5th and 6th amendment. It also has a first amendment. Pretty important stuff since describes, well, lawful behavior. I suggest you get to know it so you can understand the law and why those laws are just as important as the laws that cops like to enforce because they rarely enforce or protect constitution laws.

First, let me say that at this point in the game, I trust absolutely NO ONE in any type of law enforcement in the LMJC - specifically Catoosa Co where I live. The behavior I witnessed on MULTIPLE news casts during the Craft trial and since was/is absolutely repulsive. I would NEVER defend anyone that didn't deserve it.

With that being said, I posted awhile ago about my situation involving DFCS and the CAC. Det. Keith was the investigator as Det. Deal was a little busy in court with Mrs. Craft at the time. I've had one and only one encounter with Det. Keith.

I initiated an investigation of MYSELF with DFCS in an attempt to prevent my ex from manipulating the situation as he threatened to do. My son wouldn't talk about his accident with the DFCS investigator (thanks to ADHD and a small room filled w/ toys he had never played with before), so the case was referred to Det. Keith and the CAC. My son wouldn't speak with Mrs. Kittle during her interview either. After her failed interview, I sat and talked openly and honestly with Det. Keith regarding the situation and he seemed to genuinely care about getting to the truth of the matter. Det. Keith stated that he didn't know what to do with my case since my son wouldn't tell anybody of authority what happened to him, despite telling the ER doctors and anyone & everyone at daycare that would listen to him. I called my son over, asked him to tell the nice policeman how he got his boo boo and he answered clearly and without hesitation and continued on around the room to try and catch the resident cat at the CAC office. Det. Keith then told me that he saw nothing criminal and that he was closing the criminal side of the case.

Maybe Det. Keith didn't pursue the case because it wasn't a molestation accusation. Naturally, I don't want to believe that, but I honestly feel that Det. Keith was looking for the truth and not to just throw someone in jail.

I can only speak of my particular situation, and in this instance, Det. Keith was nothing less than an outstanding example of what a Detective dealing with horrible crimes against children should be. A truth seeker.

Just wondering - you have accused police of falsifying evidence on the stand. I am not very familiar with this case, but this is a VERY serious charge! If this were true, we're talking something like that Duke LaCrosse case. What is YOUR evidence that lies took place? Maybe it doesn't pass the "smell" test.

By the way, the fact that you can smell when someone is guilty of child molestation is amazing! You should try to get on that show that Simon Cowell did. I can't remember what it is called. Don't watch too much tv.

Yeah, and since this newest troll is trying his best to deflect guilt of any wrongdoing from Deal, then I suspect the poster is either Deal, himself, or one of his buds. Pretty transparent, aren't they!

Great post Mr. Anderson. I've always been skeptical of the justice and fairness here "in the land of the free" where the ideals may be great, but our society and system actually living up them, not so great. As I have got older and I would like to think a little wiser, the skepticism has turned into full blown disbelief that ANYTHING is really like what we are told it is by those who have something to gain by convincing us it is so.

KC, you said Too many Americans have become disgusted by actual criminals making sweet plea deals and getting off with light or no sentences and then often innocent people are going to prison because quite simply, they cannot afford a good defense attorney willing to fight for them.

I've thought that very thing before, but no longer. The fact is, none of us know who the "actual criminals" are nowadays, if we ever did. If Tonya had quietly chosen to take the plea and serve a few years to save her parents' retirement they had worked for all their lives, or made a calculated decision not to risk going to trial and perhaps spending the rest of her life in prison, then wouldn't everyone who were spectators from afar, including probably ourselves, then think she was one of those "actual criminals" too? Also, I'm sure there are people out there, some of which occasionally grace us here with their trollish presence, who are saying that exact same thing now with Tonya at the top of the actual criminals who got off list.

dmk: The internet trolls aren't the only ones saying Tonya got off, but Sheriff Summers stated insinuated that several times even going so far as mentioning OJ's verdict when discussing Craft's verdict. Also, in Buzzard's hilarious press release he basically says the same thing.

Just a friendly reminder to those residing within the LMJC:

This fall Vote No to Retain those losers VanPelt and Wood.

Anybody in Catoosa County hear of any qualified candidates willing to run against Summers? That guy needs to go and take his sidekick Deal with him.

KC: I LOVE the sign idea! Wouldn't it also be fun to have prominent billboards displaying the message VOTE NO TO RETAIN on the main thoroughfares leading to all 4 county courthouses? LOL I get a kick thinking these Judges would have to pass these things every single day on their way to work!

Bill you don't say that law enforcement or district attorney's receive money from CAPTA but you dance around it and imply that they do. This leads the uninformed followers to believe that they must. That's the implication in your latest blog post. Why do innocent people get railroaded in false child molestation cases? Who are the people your accusing, law enforcement and prosecutors. You then go on to state the reason they are fabricating the charges is because of federal money, CAPTA. No where in your post do you say the money is for other organizations because it does not fit with the hate.

This is an anarchist site. "Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. It seeks to diminish or even abolish authority in the conduct of human relations". Law enforcement and Prosecution are an essential part of the state. You have repeatedly stated your displeasure of law enforcement as a whole and have promoted and encouraged that same thought in every post. You point to daily videos as your justification to vilify a whole industry. First there are not daily videos of innocent people being killed or beaten. Secondly the videos are of INDIVIDUALS who are prosecuted if found in violation of the law not law enforcement organizations. I’ve never heard the term “testilying” and I’m positive that you have not heard it from an officer.

I find it laughable that you mention Christianity and continue to preach hate for a profession. Spin this how you want but you are an anarchist.

Mr. Callahan, you make the point of this site so eloquently. Despite all the facts, you are standing in line to believe what you believe. You have only a meager portion of the equation correct, we want to dismantle the CORRUPT state, and we want to replace it with the state that was intended by the framers, where law enforcement follows the law and upholds the constitution. And we want to do it by spreading information, exposing corruption, and replacing the corrupt through lawful means, the ballot box. Your problem is that you are conflicted because you can't throw one of your own under the bus. So you assume all law enforcement personnel are good and this site is therefore evil. In other words, you are part of the problem.

About Me

I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. We are located on the Allegheny Plateau, and we have cool summers and tough winters.
I am the single father of five children, four of them adopted from overseas and I have two grandchildren. My family and I are members of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA).